<p class="title">British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government holds the first of a series of daily meetings Tuesday designed to ramp up preparations to leave the European Union without a Brexit deal on October 31.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Government departments and businesses made extensive preparations ahead of the original March 29 deadline for Brexit, but after two delays, many plans were scaled back.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Johnson has now ordered the government to "turbo-charge" its efforts, promising "all necessary funding", beyond the £4.2 billion (4.6 billion euros, $5.1 billion) already allocated.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) lobby group says businesses must now shift to an "emergency footing".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ahead of the last Brexit deadline, the government set up "Operation Yellowhammer" to prepare for short-term disruption in 12 key areas, including food and water supplies, healthcare, transport and borders.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Under this plan, every department had an operational centre and some were already running 24 hours a day, according to the Institute for Government (IfG).</p>.<p class="bodytext">These centres are expected to be restarted, while a huge new publicity drive is planned reportedly costing £100 million to help businesses and consumers prepare.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Around 80 per cent of British companies judged themselves ready for a "no-deal" exit in the spring, according to a Bank of England survey published on March 21.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the CBI said many goods firms are now less prepared for a disorderly divorce in October, warning that stockpiling will be harder in the busy run-up to Christmas.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In services, some stop-gap agreements have been reached on both sides including a one-year agreement to protect the massive financial derivatives market in London.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Around 3,000 solicitors have registered in Ireland to allow them to continue practising across the EU, according to the CBI.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The EU says it would immediately begin customs checks, food safety inspections and verification of EU standards at its border with Britain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Fearing long delays at busy crossing points, Britain has moved to open up new routes and increase links from other ports to ease the pressure on the most important, Dover.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government is seeking additional freight capacity for medicines, medical devices and chemicals, although an effort earlier this year became a costly farce after a company hired to provide sea transport had no ferries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many drugs firms have already built up stocks and changed supply routes to reduce disruption, the CBI said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But around 28 per cent of food consumed in Britain comes from the EU, and major supermarkets have warned of the risk of disrupted supplies.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The EU has agreed to allow flights from the UK into the other 27 member states but only until March 2020, while another time-limited deal will allow trucks to keep carrying goods in and out of Britain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The high-speed train link through the 50-kilometre (30-mile) Channel Tunnel running between Britain and France will be kept open for three months, as long as Britain adopts EU rail safety standards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Britain says it will scrap tariffs on most imports, retaining a reduced rate for some agricultural products to protect farmers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the EU will treat Britain as a "third country" imposing tariffs that are on average low -- around 1.5 per cent -- but bigger in certain sectors: for cars, the rate is 10 per cent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Britain will also lose access to major markets covered by EU trade agreements, although it has replicated some of these, including with South Korea and Switzerland.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A key element of the draft Brexit deal with the EU was protecting the rights of 3.5 million European citizens living in Britain, and one million Brits in the bloc.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many EU countries have moved to protect Britons' rights anyway, while more than 800,000 Europeans have already received some form of new "settled status" in Britain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Without a deal, British citizens travelling to the EU will be limited to 90-day stays and subject to tighter passport checks.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Britain would not immediately apply customs checks on the border with EU member Ireland, to avoid raising tensions in once violence-plagued Northern Ireland.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the EU says it would insist on monitoring goods moving across what will become its external frontier.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Northern Ireland has a devolved government but this has been suspended since January 2017, and Britain says it may have to reimpose direct rule to manage a "no-deal".</p>
<p class="title">British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government holds the first of a series of daily meetings Tuesday designed to ramp up preparations to leave the European Union without a Brexit deal on October 31.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Government departments and businesses made extensive preparations ahead of the original March 29 deadline for Brexit, but after two delays, many plans were scaled back.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Johnson has now ordered the government to "turbo-charge" its efforts, promising "all necessary funding", beyond the £4.2 billion (4.6 billion euros, $5.1 billion) already allocated.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) lobby group says businesses must now shift to an "emergency footing".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ahead of the last Brexit deadline, the government set up "Operation Yellowhammer" to prepare for short-term disruption in 12 key areas, including food and water supplies, healthcare, transport and borders.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Under this plan, every department had an operational centre and some were already running 24 hours a day, according to the Institute for Government (IfG).</p>.<p class="bodytext">These centres are expected to be restarted, while a huge new publicity drive is planned reportedly costing £100 million to help businesses and consumers prepare.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Around 80 per cent of British companies judged themselves ready for a "no-deal" exit in the spring, according to a Bank of England survey published on March 21.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the CBI said many goods firms are now less prepared for a disorderly divorce in October, warning that stockpiling will be harder in the busy run-up to Christmas.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In services, some stop-gap agreements have been reached on both sides including a one-year agreement to protect the massive financial derivatives market in London.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Around 3,000 solicitors have registered in Ireland to allow them to continue practising across the EU, according to the CBI.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The EU says it would immediately begin customs checks, food safety inspections and verification of EU standards at its border with Britain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Fearing long delays at busy crossing points, Britain has moved to open up new routes and increase links from other ports to ease the pressure on the most important, Dover.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government is seeking additional freight capacity for medicines, medical devices and chemicals, although an effort earlier this year became a costly farce after a company hired to provide sea transport had no ferries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many drugs firms have already built up stocks and changed supply routes to reduce disruption, the CBI said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But around 28 per cent of food consumed in Britain comes from the EU, and major supermarkets have warned of the risk of disrupted supplies.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The EU has agreed to allow flights from the UK into the other 27 member states but only until March 2020, while another time-limited deal will allow trucks to keep carrying goods in and out of Britain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The high-speed train link through the 50-kilometre (30-mile) Channel Tunnel running between Britain and France will be kept open for three months, as long as Britain adopts EU rail safety standards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Britain says it will scrap tariffs on most imports, retaining a reduced rate for some agricultural products to protect farmers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the EU will treat Britain as a "third country" imposing tariffs that are on average low -- around 1.5 per cent -- but bigger in certain sectors: for cars, the rate is 10 per cent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Britain will also lose access to major markets covered by EU trade agreements, although it has replicated some of these, including with South Korea and Switzerland.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A key element of the draft Brexit deal with the EU was protecting the rights of 3.5 million European citizens living in Britain, and one million Brits in the bloc.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many EU countries have moved to protect Britons' rights anyway, while more than 800,000 Europeans have already received some form of new "settled status" in Britain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Without a deal, British citizens travelling to the EU will be limited to 90-day stays and subject to tighter passport checks.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Britain would not immediately apply customs checks on the border with EU member Ireland, to avoid raising tensions in once violence-plagued Northern Ireland.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the EU says it would insist on monitoring goods moving across what will become its external frontier.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Northern Ireland has a devolved government but this has been suspended since January 2017, and Britain says it may have to reimpose direct rule to manage a "no-deal".</p>